Fascinating aspects to this movie
I'm not an expert on these movies, I just enjoy them for what they are and I don't know them anywhere near as well as most of you guys will.
Having just seen Terror of Mechagodzilla I was blown away by what seemed like an attempt to comment on the nature of humanity and address deeply existential issues. It's as if the writer or director had much grander ambitions than producing just another monster mash. I'm not prone to reading too much into superficial movies but I couldn't get away from the almost Kubrickian undertones.
The scientist is disillusioned with humanity and attempts to destroy it (so he exhibits no humanity himself). His daughter is his moral conscience and a vocal advocate for mankind (so she is his humanity)... yet she's a cyborg. She fails to convince her father of our worth but when she is put in the position of being directly responsible for our destruction (when she's rewired and linked to Mechagodzilla) the father is unable to accept it. Not because he doesn't want us destroyed but because he doesn't want us destroyed by his beloved daughter, because he knows she wouldn't want it. So it's his feeling for a cyborg that elicits his humanity. In the end she must sacrifice her 'life' so mankind can prevail.
So there's an effective examination of the moral difference between human and machine, of what humanity means. There's a fascinating extension of this that touches on free will and organic/mechanic interaction in the way the daughter is made to control Mechagodzilla. There's a seemingly illogical switch in expectations in the way a cyborg has such a profound effect on the feelings of a human. And there's a genuine emotional resonance in the Christ parable that concludes the film (her sacrificing herself for mankind).
Awesome!